Review Iraq, People, History, Politics

Stansfield, Gareth, Iraq, People, History, Politics, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2007

In Iraq, People, History, Politics Gareth Stansfield attempts to deal with four major questions about the country, while relaying its history. They are whether Iraq is an artificial state, the rise of ethnosectarian identity politics after the fall of Saddam Hussein, whether the nation was predisposed to authoritarian rule, and finally could a democracy be established there post-2003. There are both pluses and minuses to Stansfield’s approach to these subjects, which makes the book a mixed read.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 9

1917 1^st British assault on Baghdad turned back by Ottomans

1918 British took Hit Anbar without a fight from Ottomans

1959 End of Mosul Revolt led Kurds to loot city and attack civilians Communists and Leftists also

attacked pan-Arabists and rich in city as well

(Musings On Iraq book review Red Star Over Iraq, Iraqi Communism Before Saddam)

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Prof Johan Franzen on the history of the Iraqi Communist Party)

1974 Bakr govt told Kurds had two days to accept government’s autonomy plan Kurds objected

because didn't include Kirkuk Sinjar Khanaqin and wanted new census Bakr said no

(Musings On Iraq book review of The Kurds, A Modern History)

(Musings On Iraq book review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)

1975 Shah announced Algiers Agreement over border with Iraq

1984 Using chemical weapons Iraq retook all areas in Basra from Iranians except Majnoon Islands

(Musings On Iraq article on the origins of Iraq’s WMD programs)

1986 Iraq made 3^rd attempt to re-capture Fao Peninsula

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

1987 Iran were outside Rawandaz Kurdistan but ordered to stop due to threats by Turkey to not

advance anymore

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 Kurdish rebellion started in Halabja and Arbat

(Musings On Iraq book review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)

1991 Hussein Kamal led Iraqi forces to retake Karbala from rebels

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

1999 Fighting between Iraqi forces and SCIRI’s Badr Brigade in 2 southern provinces

(Musings On Iraq article on the history of Badr Organization)

2003 Karbala Div commander memo said main threat was not US invasion but internal rebellions

2003 PM Blair told Bush he needed a 2^nd UN resolution authorizing force against Iraq to get parliament’s

support for war Bush said he couldn't wait

2003 PM Blair told Bush UK would back US in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Book Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2003 Sec State Powell told CNN that European country came up with new evidence that aluminum

tubes Iraq tried to buy were for nukes not rockets

(Musings On Iraq article on the aluminum tubes story)

2003 Sec State Powell on Meet The Press Iraq-Niger uranium story open to investigation and IAEA had

been wrong about Iraq’s nuke program in 1990s

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

2004 CIA Dir Tenet told Senate that he told VP Cheney trailers found in Iraq were not conclusive

evidence of Iraq WMD Said US intel still unsure about what trailers found in Iraq were used for Said CIA did not agree with Pentagon paper that Iraq had long cooperation with Al Qaeda

(Musings On Iraq How Iraqi Defector CURVEBALL Became Basis For US Claim That Iraq Had WMD)

(Musings On Iraq Look Who The LA Times Dug Up – CURVEBALL)

(Musings On Iraq Story of CURVEBALL And Iraq’s Mobile Biological Weapons Labs)

2004 3 killed 20 wounded in fighting between Arabs Kurds Turkmen in Kirkuk city

2008 Basra officials said security situation worsening because of flood of weapons from Iran and called

for Basra Operations commander to resign

2009 Turkey announced program to train Iraqi army in Turkey

2010 Kurdish Awene newspaper said electoral fraud in Irbil election and sued by KDP

2013 Babil intel arrested 12 ISI members Claimed they were backed by Sheikh Sulaiman and Sheikh Abu

Risha who were leaders in Anbar protests

2013 Free Iraq Intifada leader arrested Group issued ultimatum to release him or face rebellion Hoping to

turn protests to violence Free Iraq Intifada Naqshibandi front group organizing protests in Mosul, Hawija Kirkuk Tikrit

2015 Peshmerga began offensive to take towns south of Kirkuk city from IS

2018 Report IMF’s Stand By Agreement on hold with Iraq over 2018 budget cutting spending for KRG

and reducing non-oil govt revenue

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 8

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 

Iraqi Women Before And After The 2003 Invasion, Interview With Prof Nadje Al-Ali Univ of London

1916 British tried and failed to take the Dujaila Redoubt from Ottomans losing 4,000 men

1920 Hundreds of ex-Ottoman soldiers including many Iraqis petitioned Prince Faisal about how Arab

revolt didn’t workout during WWI Went to Iraq to fight British

1950 105,000 Iraqi Jews registered to immigrate to Israel Almost 40,000 had already immigrated under

new govt law allowing immigration

1959 Fighting continued in Mosul between Communist backers of Gen Qasim and his opponents

(Musings On Iraq book review Red Star Over Iraq, Iraqi Communism Before Saddam)

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Prof Johan Franzen on the history of the Iraqi Communist Party)

1959 Coup leader Col Shawaf sent two planes to bomb Baghdad radio station but failed

1959 Gen Qasim bombed Col Shawaf’s HQ in Mosul Afterward one of Shawaf’s soldiers killed him

thinking coup failed Ended Mosul Revolt

(Musings On Iraq interview with Western Kentucky’s Prof Romero on the Qasim govt)

1963 Baath seized power in Syria opening door to unification with Baath led Iraq

1980 Iran withdrew its ambassador from Iraq Prelude to Iran-Iraq War

1984 UN sent team to Iraq to investigate Baghdad’s use of chemical weapons against Iran

(Musings On Iraq article on the origins of Iraq’s WMD programs)

1986 Iraqi counterattacks ended Iran Op Wa al-Fajr 9 in Sulaymaniya

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 Peshmerga captured Sulaymaniya from govt forces Executing 700 Baathists and

            security officials

1991 Turkish Pres Ozal changed policy and held talks with KDP and PUK for first time

(Musings On Iraq book review of The Kurds, A Modern History)

(Musings On Iraq book review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)

1991 Iranian Pres Rafsanjani called on Saddam to step down from power

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

1998 UN inspectors went to old and new Defense Ministry buildings and found nothing

1998 Iraqis told UN inspectors they knew Clinton admin wanted to provoke a confrontation to strike Iraq

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US manipulated UN inspections)

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iraq In The Eye of the Storm)

2002 Iraq options paper given to PM Blair Said UK could strengthen containment or regime change

using military Said invasion only way to ensure removal of Saddam

2002 UK cabinet meeting said US no longer wanted to contain Iraq Said only way to remove

Saddam was through invasion but no justification for it

(Musings On Iraq Book Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2002 CIA report on Fmr Amb Wilson’s trip to Niger to investigate Iraq trying to buy uranium Niger

denied any deal Said June 1999 Iraqi delegation met with Niger PM about business which PM thought was buying uranium CIA analysts believed FmrAmb Wilson confirmed Iraq was interested in buying uranium from Niger

2002 State Dept believed Wilson’s trip confirmed that Iraq had not tried to buy uranium from Niger

2002 Wilson would later claim that he talked about docs alleging Iraq-Niger uranium deal but he

didn’t know about them until later

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)

2003 Bush made radio address saying he was doing everything to avoid war but if Saddam didn’t disarm

he would be made to Bush already decided on war

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Bush Administrations and Saddam Hussein, Deciding on Conflict)

2003 PM Blair’s final attempt to get UN Security Council to pass 2^nd resolution supporting force against

Iraq failed

(Musings On Iraq Book Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2003 PM Blair’s foreign policy adviser Manning told Natl Sec Adv Rice PM Blair willing to lose his govt

in order to fight Iraq war

2003 DIA report to Sec Def Rumsfeld said that IAEA was dismissing Iraq-Niger uranium story because

based upon questionable docs Said that Wilson’s trip found evidence that Iraq was interested in buying uranium from Niger Was Navy report uranium was in Benin warehouse Said Somali businessmen talked about shipment that was similar to Iraq-Niger uranium deal even though didn’t mention Iraq Niger or uranium

2003 US official said administration had been duped by fake docs claiming Iraq tried to buy uranium

from Niger

2003 Fmr Amb Wilson told CNN US govt should and did know that Iraq-Niger uranium story was false

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

2003 Army Corps of Engineers gave KBR $7 bil contract to repair Iraq’s infrastructure after war

2004 Transitional Administrative Law signed into effect as temporary constitution Shiites on Iraqi

Governing Council who had objected to TAL finally signed it Sistani said it was illegitimate and any further laws must be passed by an elected Iraqi parliament

(Musings On Iraq book review The Occupation of Iraq, Winning The War, Losing The Peace)

(Musings On Iraq book review Patriotic Ayatollahs, Nationalism In Post-Saddam Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq book review Squandered Victory, The American Occupation And the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq)

2004 Natl Sec Adv Rice said that UN rep Brahimi had to return to Iraq to complete work on new Iraqi

govt

2008 5000 protested in Basra against army and police over deteriorating security and rising crime

2008 Mahdi Army and army got into shoot out in Sadr City 18 soldiers taken prisoner

2009 Suicide bombing in Baghdad killed 28 outside police academy

2015 ISF turned over Dour, Salahaddin to Hashd who started destroying property

2018 Report 2018 budget only had $344 mil for reconstruction out of $20 bil capital budget IMF and Iraq

planned on roughly $10 bil per year for rebuilding over 5 years

2018 Hundreds protested in Baghdad over sewage and lack of electricity Demanded PM Abadi form a

committee to deal with issues

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 7

1916 British forces attacked Ottomans at the Dujaila Redoubt

1941 German Foreign Min official Woermann wrote that Berlin should send arms to Iraq but didn’t

think Baghdad should declare war vs UK because couldn’t win

(Musings On Iraq book review of Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq And Syria 1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)

1950 Opposition MPs left parliament claiming they were being silenced in assembly Were hoping to

cause protests and bring down PM Suwaidi’s govt but failed

1959 Fighting broke out between Leftists that supported Qasim and pan-Arabists backed by Shammar

tribe who were against Qasim in Mosul

1959 Mosul commander Col Shawaf led military coup against Gen Qasim Poorly organized Only 2 other

army units joined Radio from Egypt didn’t arrive

(Musings On Iraq interview with Western Kentucky’s Prof Romero on the Qasim govt)

1975 Iran and Iraq came to agreement over Shatt al-Arab and Iran said it would stop supporting Kurdish

revolt

1975 Iraqi army moved into Kurdistan after Iran withdrew support for Kurds under Algiers Accord

(Musings On Iraq book review Killing Hope, U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

(Musings On Iraq book review of The Kurds, A Modern History)

(Musings On Iraq book review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)

(Musings On Iraq article on Nixon admin support for Kurdish revolt)

1981 Iran rejected any ceasefire with Iraq Baghdad began bombing Iranian town of Ilam and oil refinery

in Khuzistan in retaliation 

1984 Iraqis used mustard gas against Iranians to try to turn them back in Basra marshes

(Musings On Iraq article on the origins of Iraq’s WMD programs)

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

1988 USSR submitted new proposal for negotiating end to Iran-Iraq War

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 Ayatollah Khoei issued 2^nd fatwa calling for clerical leadership to run Najaf and restoring order

during uprising

1991 Iraqi officials asked for WMD to put down rebellion in Najaf

1991 Bush Admin warned Iraq not to use WMD against Shiite and Kurdish uprisings after Gulf War

1991 Govt forces began artillery and rocket fire on Najaf shrine

1991 Peshmerga began uprising in Sulaymaniya

1991 Saddam offered Shiites and Kurds share in govt in exchange for loyalty oath but turned down

1991 Iranian Pres Rafsanjani said Saddam was unpopular and should give into popular demand and

step down

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

1998 UN inspectors went to Special Republican Guard and Special Security Directorate

1998 NSA intercepted Saddam’s secretary Mahmoud telling Special Security Direcrorate to delay

inspection at one site so documents could be removed Destroyed at another

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

1998 US was hoping to cause confrontation between Baghdad and UN inspectors to strike Iraq

(Musings On Iraq article on how US manipulated UN inspections)

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iraq In The Eye of the Storm)

2003 UK Att Gen Goldsmith said that 2^nd UN resolution was needed for action against Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Book Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2003 Head weapons inspector Blix said that Iraq doing more but not fully cooperating and still months

more work ahead Said no evidence of mobile WMD labs

(Musings On Iraq article on mobile labs story)

2003 IAEA chief El Baradei told UN no evidence Iraq restarted nuclear program

(Musings On Iraq article on how poor US intel work led to claim Iraq rebuilt its nuclear weapons program)

2003 IAEA concluded that aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were for rockets not nuke program

(Musings On Iraq article on the aluminum tubes story)

2003 IAEA said that documents claiming Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger were fakes

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

2003 Sec State Powell told UN Security Council in response to IAEA that US had new proof that

aluminum tubes were for centrifuges

2003 UK For Sec Straw suggested UN set ultimatum for Iraq’s full cooperation with inspectors by Mar

17 or face war

2003 2^nd high level US meeting on creating an interim Iraqi authority after invasion held just days before

war

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

2003 Defense Policy Board’s Adelman wrote OpEd USA Today saying US had given Iraq too much time

and needed action

2006 Anbar Revolutionaries said they’d killed 20 Al Qaeda in Iraq foreign fighters and 33 Iraqi ones Said

goal was to get rid of Zarqawi

(Musings On Iraq article on tribes turning on Al Qaeda in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq article on change in perceptions that led to Awakening)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

2007 Fadhila Party left United Iraqi Alliance over disagreements with leadership

2008 Pres Talabani visited Turkey Sign that Turkey was changing policy towards Kurds Refused to meet

with KRG Pres Barzani

2010 Parliamentary elections held leading to 2^nd Maliki term

2014 Insurgents bombed Kirkuk oil pipeline cutting northern exports

2016 Sadrists threatened no confidence vote against Abadi if he didn’t announce new govt in 45 days

(Musings On Iraq interview with Cambridge’s Michael Clark on Sadr, protests and PM Abadi’s reforms)

View the Iraq History Timelines

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 6

1922 King Faisal threatened to end Anglo-Iraq treaty talks if term mandate wasn’t dropped from

Iraq

(Musings On Iraq book review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)

1959 Leftists announced creation of Peace Partisans in Mosul Up to 250,000 from all over Iraq arrived in

Mosul Caused reaction by pan-Arab opponents of Qasim

(Musings On Iraq interview with Western Kentucky’s Prof Romero on the Qasim govt)

1975 Iran Iraq Algeria foreign ministers met and signed Algiers Agreement to settle Iran-Iraq border

issues

1981 Iran demanded Islamic Conference Organization determine aggressor in the war

1981 Jordanian Yarmouk Force deployed with Iraqi forces in central front

1984 Iraq launched another counterattack to try to retake Majnoon Island from Iranians during Op

Kheibar Gained little

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 Saddam appointed cousin Ali Majid Interior Minister to put down uprisings after Gulf War

1991 State Dept spokesman said foreign powers should not get involved in Iraqi uprisings following

Gulf War

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

1991 Kurdish uprising started in Kol Sanjaq

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

(Musings On Iraq book review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)

1992 Turkey said it would send troops into Iraq to stop Kurdish independence

1992 Saddam regime suspected of car bombing in central Sulaymaniya outside Kurdish party offices

1998 UN inspectors went to Special Republican Guard and Special Security Directorate sites US was

hoping to cause confrontation over inspectors to strike Iraq

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US manipulated UN inspections)

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iraq In The Eye of the Storm)

2002 PM Blair wrote article for UK paper saying Iraq had WMD and would use them

(Musings On Iraq Book Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2002 Gen Franks briefed VP Cheney on which Middle East countries needed to be lobbied to help with

Iraq invasion before trip to region

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

2002 CIA held meeting on covert and unconventional warfare capabilities against Iraq

2002 US war game held on political and military implications of Iraq invasion

(Musings On Iraq book review of Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)

2003 Bush TV address Said time running out on UN weapons inspectors Accused Iraq of hiding its

WMD Bush said that he’d not decided on war when he had

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Bush Administrations and Saddam Hussein, Deciding on Conflict)

2003 NatSecAdv Rice letter to Senator US had briefed UN on all suspected WMD sites Didn’t give info

on 21 of 105 sites

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

2003 PM Blair was told UK should not try to administer post-war Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Book Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2004 Report US intel dismissed reports that said Iraq had no WMD

2004 Report Bush chastised Sec Def Rumsfeld over Abu Ghraib abuse scandal

2006 Basra police surrounded 5 US govt workers Had to be rescued by security contractors

2006 Iraq NGO report to US said over 700 Shiite families fled neighborhoods in Baghdad after Askari

shrine bombing

(Musings On Iraq book review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)

(Musings On Iraq Columbia University Charts Sectarian Cleansing Of Baghdad)

2007 ISI attacked Badush prison in Ninewa freeing 68 prisoners

2007 Bombing in Hilla killed 120

2007 Ret Gen Keane told VP Cheney that Petraeus had re-invigorated US mission in Iraq

2008 Twin ISI bombing in Baghdad killed 68 wounded 120 Deadliest attack in 9 months

2008 Fadhila called for early elections to replace PM Maliki

2008 After Turkey’s Op Sun vs PKK in Feb 08 KRG asked Ankara to remove two army units with 1,200

troops total in four bases that had been in Kurdistan since 1996 Turkey refused

2009 PM Maliki called for reconciliation with former Saddam era soldiers Came after talks with former

officers in Feb 09

(Musings On Iraq article on PM Maliki’s call for reconciliation with former Iraqi soldiers)

2011 Independent radio station in Kalar attacked by armed men for supporting protests

(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Wladimir Van Wilgenburg on 2011 KRG protests)

2014 Transportation Min Amiri turned around Middle East Airlines plane in flight so his son who was

late could get on

2015 Dour outside of Tikrit freed from IS

2016 Kurdish delegation met with PM Abadi demanding 20% of any new cabinet

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Violence Largely Unchanged In Iraq In February 2020

Violence across Iraq was largely unchanged from January to February 2020. There were 85 total security incidents during the month, 3 of which were likely done by pro-Iran groups as they targeted military bases that housed American forces. That left 82 probably carried out by the Islamic State. That compared to 93 total incidents in January, with 14 done by pro-Iran groups and 79 by IS. Attacks have been going up and down for the last several months. In September 2019 there were 119, then falling to a low point of 51 in November, likely the fewest incidents in the country since 2003. That was due to the outbreak of national protests in October, which has historically led the insurgents to back off when they begin. Then IS made a return in December with 114 incidents. Since then things have leveled off at the current level. Currently, the Islamic State doesn't appear to be strong enough to maintain any increase in the level of its operations. This is despite a very favorable situation in the rural areas where it works in with a minimal government presence, and a gap between the federal and Kurdish forces within the disputed areas of the north.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 5

1917 British forces started march on Baghdad from Kut

1981 Iraq offered peace deal to Iran including withdrawal Khomeini said no seeing offer as weakness by

Saddam

1981 Khomeini’s rejection of Iraq’s peace offer led Saddam to push ahead with new attacks in Iran

1981 Report that Iraq wanted to buy military equipment from US but turned down

1983 Soviet For Min Gromyko met with Iraqi and Iranian delegations to try to mediate end to Iran-Iraq

War

1984 US condemned Iraq’s use of WMD for 1^st time in Iran-Iraq War Iraq denied it used any

(Musings On Iraq article on the origins of Iraq’s WMD programs)

1985 Iraq bombed Ahvaz in Khuzistan province Started new war of cities that lasted until June 1985

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraqi Mirages, The Dassault Mirage Family In Service With The Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988)

1985 Iraqi military intelligence warned 3^rd and 4^th Corps of impending Iranian offensive Attack

would come further south

1987 Saddam had meeting on war Decided to expand Republican Guard Expand tanker war Use

WMD more

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 3: Iraq’s Triumph)

1988 Iran told UN that it was ready to accept ceasefire

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 Police tried to arrest army deserters in Rania but Kurdish rebels seized city

1991 Karbala joined Shiite revolt

1991 Ayatollah Khoei issued fatwa for people in Najaf to follow Islamic Law Protect property during

uprising

1991 US Gen Brandtner said US would not let weapons go to Shiite rebels in southern Iraq

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

1991 Sec Def Cheney said US would not be able to hold coalition together if it moved on Saddam

1991 Iraq officially renounced annexation of Kuwait agreed to pay reparations and return stolen property

to Kuwait

1995 INC claimed fighting between opposition and Iraqi forces in Qurna as part of its uprising

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iraq In The Eye of the Storm)

1998 UN weapons inspectors returned to Iraq and carried out successful searches

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

1998 Report Al Qaeda operative arrived in Baghdad for talks False story

2002 CIA debriefed Fmr Amb Wilson on his trip to Niger to investigate Iraq buying uranium Wilson said

he found no proof of Iraq-Niger uranium deal but in 1999 Iraq asked Niger about better trade CIA believed 1999 overture about better Iraq-Niger trade might have been supporting proof of uranium deal

2002 Fmr Amb Wilson left CIA debriefing believing he disproved Iraq-Niger uranium deal CIA felt they

might have proof it happened

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

2002 Joint Intel Comm head Scarlett briefed PM Blair on Iraq’s WMD Afterward Blair thought Iraq only

had battlefield WMD capability

2002 UK Home Secretary Blunkett at cabinet meeting asked whether legal basis for action vs Iraq

2002 UK For Sec Straw wrote article saying if Saddam refused weapons inspectors there would be

consequences

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

2002 UK intel report predicted successor to Saddam would be a Sunni military man

2003 UK Embassy in Washington said Bush admin set on war with Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Book Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2003 France Russia Germany said they would not vote for a UN resolution authorizing force against Iraq

2003 PM Blair told Bush if they got 9 votes on Sec Council for 2^nd resolution and it was vetoed they

would still have legal authority for action

2003 UK Attny Gen told PM Blair if 2^nd resolution vetoed in UN would be no legal basis for Iraq war

2003 Sec State Powell told Congress 2^nd UN resolution against Iraq would pass while his staff told him

wasn’t likely

2003 Sec State Powell said that Iraq weapons declaration to UN farce because it said it had no WMD and

claimed it was hiding them from inspectors

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq, One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

2003 National Intelligence Committee memo said that docs on Iraq-Niger uranium deal were forgeries

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

2003 Sir Tebbet Sec of UK Def Min asked cabinet for legal authorization for war with Iraq

2003 Russian Amb provided Iraq with numbers of US troops, equipment and their locations to Iraq

before invasion

(Musings On Iraq article on how Russia provided Iraq with intel on US invasion plans before war)

2003 ORHA head Garner got ok from Rice to use frozen Iraqi assets to pay for postwar plans Garner told

Rice he didn’t think there would be enough US troops in Iraq to maintain security after invasion Garner asked Rice what were plans to put together post-Saddam Iraqi govt Got no answer

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

2003 Gen Franks briefed Bush on war preparations Were 208,000 forces in Middle East with 50,000 more

arriving in 2 weeks

2003 Bush met Vatican envoy who argued against war because of casualties and gulf between Christians

and Muslims

2004 Gen Abizaid said ISF put together too quickly and lacked training equipment command and control

(Musings On Iraq article on pre-Surge US Iraq strategy)

2004 Fmr head weapons inspector Blix said Iraq war was not authorized by existing UN resolutions

2004 Shiite members of Iraqi Governing Council refused to sign Transitional Administrative Law due to

Sistani objections

(Musings On Iraq book review Squandered Victory, The American Occupation And the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq)

2004 Badr head in Najaf Hassan attempted to assassinate CPA provincial coordinator for trying to stop

Hassan from bribing Najaf council to control it

2006 Gen Pace Joint Chiefs head said Iraq was not heading towards civil war

2006 After head of Nuaim tribe and sheikh from Jabour tribe killed Hawija sheikhs decided to fight Al

Qaeda in Iraq

2007 Report Interior Min fired and reassigned 10,000 workers for torture taking bribes tied to militias

2008 Gen Petraeus and Amb Crocker said Iran failed to follow through with promise to PM Maliki to cut

support for militias Gen Odierno and CENTCOM cmdr Adm Fallon said that Iran biggest long term threat to Iraq Sill training and directing militias

2008 Cabinet approved Oil Ministry to sign technical support agreements with foreign oil companies for

            first time

2008 Emergency security plan in Basra announced to hunt down militias after Nasiriya police inspector

            general assassinated there week before

2012 Wearing ISF uniforms ISI attacked 5 checkpoints Took 27 police prisoner Executed them Then

released video of attacks

2018 Parliament voted to review Iraq National Oil Company

View the Iraq History Timelines